Anne Frank was kind of like a soap opera in the small hideout inhabited by the eight Jews. It seemed that everyone would get mad at each other and especially Anne, but after the fights, they seemed to let it pass. It also seems that there were a lot of people coming to the office in the middle of the night who were thieves. This probably frightened the occupants of the hideout since they didn’t want anyone knowing their whereabouts so that they wouldn’t tell the Nazis.

There is also humor in Anne Frank’s Diary. There are many times in her story when she tells humorous stories, like the one involving Mrs. Van Daan having her tooth checked. Mrs. Van Daan had had a cavity and every time the doctor, Mr. Dussel, touched it, it made her jump. Everyone found this extremely funny. There were also episodes that Anne felt were hilarious, but wouldn’t strike me as very funny. She explained how Mr. Van Daan looked so funny while he was making sausage. She says how he almost looks like a butcher. To me this wouldn’t be a very funny looking thing, but maybe it is because I’m not a thirteen year old girl hiding from Nazis.

The reason I chose Anne Frank as my independent reading book to go along with My Name is Asher Lev is that both books deal with minorities. Anne Frank takes place during the persecution of Jews by Hitler, and Asher Lev takes place during the time of Stalin’s reign and his persecution of Jews. The people in both of the books all disagreed on something. In Anne Frank because of the enclosed atmosphere everyone would get angry at another person and state their feelings. In Asher Lev Asher’s mother and father would disagree with his art. The two books were also different. Asher Lev didn’t have to hide out from Stalin since he was already living in Brooklyn. Anne Frank on the other hand was hiding for her life with her family from the Nazis.

It was kind of sad to know how Anne Frank died, in a concentration camp. When I heard this I thought of the pictures of the concentration camp I saw on the video The Chosen. It is hard to believe that one person could cause such horror in this world.